Can you smell the backlash?

[Joe Fields]

It's funny how a story isn't a story until it reaches Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, Washington Post or U.S.A. Today. Such is the case with the U.S.A. Today story on the telecom companies allowing the wholesale wiretapping of what could be millions of Americans.

Now, this information has been common knowledge to many of us for quite some time. The tapping of telecom "portals" have allowed the NSA to tap tens of thousands of calls at a time, using a "profile" and "keywords" to "separate" suspected calls from nondescript ones. Of course this is illegal as hell. Any argument by the government to the contrary is childish, obstructionist and completely "in your face." Books on this subject have been written since 9/11, detailing just what the government has been up to. Articles in lesser publications, blogs and e-zines have also pointed the massive wiretappings out.

But the palpable distaste and rise against it really hasn't been felt nationwide until today. Hmmm....the power of USA Today. That alone leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But, if it takes an article about it in USA Today to raise the collective public ire and scrutiny , then alright by me. It's about damn time.

It looks as though there is a major backlash on the horizon, directed toward the telecoms that have cooperated with the government. And I love the hell out of it. I just wish I had a phone service, so that I could switch. But, you can bet now, that many of my friends will be mentioning to me that they will be switching services.

I hope the illegal actions of the telecoms that have cooperated cost them plenty.

[billybob537]

1. And The IRONY deafening. n/t

[Joe Fields]

7. It is no less than they deserve for selling us out, and ....

invading our privacy. God only knows what the government can and will do, armed with all of this illegally collected information.

[ShortnFiery]

2. After the dust has settled, we should insist that these monopolies

be broken up into dozens of "modest" companies. Would it not be nice to have competition bring down the costs and not tempt DICTATOR wannabes to tap our phones?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. In the list of things to do

open and publically financed elections should be in the list as well as proportional representation.

We need to change soem elements that are non functional

Of course, take personhood from corpos as well, but that goes without saying

[Betsy Ross]

11. You must be too young to remember when

Ma Bell was broken up. Gave us all the Baby Bells such as SBC which has now become AT&T once again. Very funny, what?

[DBoon]

15. but without any of the regulation

that kept the old Bell system in line

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Oh, sorry, I changed deoderant..

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. RLOL

Bad, back backlash

;-)

[rodeodance]

4. The WH, no doubt, has started a criminal invest. on who leaked this to

USA today.

[Demeter]

8. What Bothers Me Is The Tone of the LTTE In Time

Just this week, it sounds like the John Birchers and Opus Dei made a special effort to flood the Letters page. There is no rational discourse there, just denial, bluster and hatred. It was very disappointing, and not a good sign. It's one thing to vote in a poll in a snit, and a whole other thing to actually change one's heart and mind. I don't think we're there, yet.

[magellan]

9. AT&T shares have dropped today

And that doesn't even begin to touch on how many customers may be moving to another service. I know AT&T owns the lines so they still get a cut of other telecom profits, but an exodus of customers will still hurt them.

[IndyJones]

14. That's good news. I hope they continue to fall.

[Tummler]

10. "Backwash" is just one letter away from "Backlash"!

May this latest story evaporate another bit of the backwash ...

[Chiyo-chichi]

12. The Backwash Backlash!

Little by little some of the backwash will revolt.

[elaineb]

13. LOL and Amen!

Think the Republicans in Congress are freaked out by the backlash they've been sensing so far from their constituents because of *'s policies? Wait 'til this one sinks in. This is going to hurt * BIG TIME. It sucks that it's taken 5 years of war crimes, corruption, and scandal to get people to wake up, and to most of us, this is just a drop in the bucket of what he should be impeachable for, but at least it's going to wake up the last few who could tilt this wavering colossus over. There are so many Repubs starting to OPENLY dissent from *'s policies, that one has to wonder whether many of them are starting to talk quietly among themselves about agreeing to some investigations, the same thing they've been digging in their heels against for years. And we know what a good investigation could lead to...

And I agree with you, soonerhoosier, there may even be a backlash from the backwash on this one!

[Joe Fields]

16. You read my mind. I meant to add that.

[KAT119]

17. Finally see a silver lining in this storm:-)